


Never Fully Heal

by Fitzfire



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 15:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17062349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fitzfire/pseuds/Fitzfire
Summary: Frodo’s past haunts him long after the ring was destroyed. It would never fully leave him, and neither would much of the pain. Maybe the Shire isn’t a place for him any longer, even if it is the place for Sam.





	Never Fully Heal

Were the memories the worst, or was it the dreams? The nightmares haunted him most nights, but the memories sprung up without warning. The nights he could prepare for. The moments were random. He lost sleep over the nightmares. When he froze up around the people he knew, they asked him whether it was another flashback.

They were both bothersome in their own ways. Ranking one over the other was a meaningless endeavor anyway. What point was there?

Frodo looked down at his missing finger. His shame. The moment he’d lost his sanity. Was it chance or luck that eventually destroyed the ring. Was it fate?

He reached for his ink pen again. The story continued. There was a deadline now. The last ship would not wait forever, and he couldn’t finish it on the journey.

His last journey.

He started to write again. The Fellowship had been broken just pages before. It was a comfort to know they’d eventually reunite at the end of the quest. Even so, there was a pain putting it down on paper. In a moment, he’d get to the part where Sam dove into the water to get to Frodo’s boat, likely saving his life. Could he have survived the trek to Mordor without him? Absolutely not.

There was a stirring outside. Sam. Coming back to the Shire and his closest friend insisting on returning to his old guardian job felt right and wrong at the same time. He said nothing. Sam needed it, both to support his new fiancé and to find some semblance of normal again. A semblance of normal that Frodo couldn’t find.

Maybe he’d bring some water out to the other Hobbit. He’d return to his book later.

Frodo put down his pen without having written anything and rose to go to the kitchen. There, he found two cups and the pitcher of water. He balanced in his hands while he opened the round green door to the outside.

As he did, one of the cups crashed to the floor, shattering into what looked like a thousand pieces.

Frodo winced, but not from the mess. He raised a hand to his shoulder. It was as Gandalf said. The wound would never fully heal.

He’d sweep up the broken pieces later. For now, he’d take the intact cup to Sam.

Coming around the Bag End, the house under the hill, he saw Sam snipping some of the unruly stems on the bushes. He was muttering to himself and didn’t stop until he saw Frodo standing above him.

“Here,” Frodo said, offering the cup.

Sam looked at it. “Don’t you have something for yourself.”

Of course, Sam wouldn’t drink if Frodo didn’t. That was the way Sam was.

“I’m fine,” Frodo said. “I drank some water inside before I came out.” It was a lie, of course, but it was good enough for Sam. He nodded, reached out for the cup, and then smiled.

“Thank you,” he said.

Frodo couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled like that. 

No matter.

**Author's Note:**

> I've got another Lord of the Rings work if you want to check out more of my writing! I've also got some Attack and Titan and My Hero Academia is that's somehow also your speed!


End file.
